


You're (Not) Invited!

by grapeflavoredorange



Category: Persona 5, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Based on a Tumblr Post, Crack, Gen, Metaverse (Persona 5), Palaces, Post-Game, the premise is stupid but i don't care, this is EXTREMELY fun to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24098083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapeflavoredorange/pseuds/grapeflavoredorange
Summary: Two years have passed since the Phantom Thieves disbanded, and life for them has seemingly returned to normal, with Akira back in Tokyo for his final years of high school. No amount of strangeness could ever top their year as thieves, at least until a strange letter arrives at Leblanc one day inviting them for their true final heist. Will Joker and the Phantom Thieves be able to steal the show?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	You're (Not) Invited!

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i've been working on this for a few weeks, and although the premise is incredibly stupid, i'm proud to finally publish it! this is based off of the linked tumblr post, and again, it's stupid, but i've been having a blast writing it! i hope you enjoy!
> 
> <https://novablade96.tumblr.com/post/180915911515/given-persona-lore-its-actually-not-all-that>

_ To: Akira “Joker” Kurusu _

_ We hope this letter has found you well. _

_ You are invited to participate in the most recent Smash tournament, “Ultimate”, for you have shown immense potential to be a participant. However, if you wish to accept, you and your comrades (The Phantom Thieves, you were called?) will have to complete a special task. If stealing things is your specialty, then there is something we must ask of you. In order to participate in the tournament, we have requested you steal a “treasure” from a certain someone we have been trying to fend off for some time now. You do not need to worry about sending a calling card. All we ask is that you send your response before April 17th, 2019.  _

_ We hope to see you soon,  _

_ M. H. & C. H. _

“For real?! They want you in Smash?!”

It had been a typical, boring Wednesday for Akira. That was, of course, until Sojiro called him down from the attic telling him that he had received a strange letter in the mail simply addressed to “Joker”, sporting a fancy red wax seal, and it had no return address. The moment he finished reading it, he immediately called the rest of the Phantom Thieves to the cafe to discuss it. After all, if they were going to accept this invitation, it would need to be a unanimous decision. When they eventually did arrive and Akira read the invitation aloud to them, it was clear what their answer would be.

“No way! That’s like, insane!”

“How is this even going to work? I thought it was a fictional video game.”

“Well, obviously it’s not fictional anymore! This is so cool!”

“Who are we supposed to be stealing from, though?”

“And we’re all going? Isn’t it only Akira who’ll be fighting?”

“Who cares, man? This is so rad! There are so many characters I wanna meet!”

As the rest of the Phantom Thieves chattered excitedly about the invitation, Morgana nudged Akira’s arm and whispered to him. “Hey, I think we should talk about this. What if it’s a prank, or it ends up being dangerous?” Akira looked at him, then at the other Thieves, then back at Morgana. “I don’t know…” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “What’s the harm in replying to it? We won’t know unless we try, right?” There was a pause, the two watching the commotion, then Morgana spoke up. “I guess we can give it a shot,” he said, sounding slightly defeated. “You’re the leader, after all. Besides, it won’t be easy for you to steal the Treasure from whoever they’re talking about all by yourself.” Akira smiled. “Thanks, Mona.” he said, then turned to the group, clearing his throat. The room went silent, then he spoke up. “We’ve made our decision,” he announced. They all gasped, and Akira smiled.

“Ready for a heist?”

The plan was set. They quickly wrote a response, confirming that they had accepted the invitation, and it was in the mail almost instantly after they had finished. The days following were nerve-wracking, Akira checking the mail nervously every day for a response. Almost a week after their letter was sent out, he finally received a response. Instead of calling the rest of the Thieves, however, Akira simply sent a picture of the letter to their group chat - it was faster, after all. The letter read:

_ Dear Phantom Thieves, _

_ We are pleased to receive your confirmation. The next step is simple: Prepare your belongings and assemble where you usually do tomorrow at 4:30pm, or rather 16:30 for you. Do not worry about any schoolwork or job you might have. From there, you will be taken to your next location. Further instructions will be given to you.  _

_ We are greatly anticipating your arrival. _

_ M. H. & C. H. _

Akira spent the rest of the day nervously packing his things for what was to come. His belongings… what did that apply to? His pistol and dagger, obviously, clothes, some extra lockpicks, ah, he’d need to get some more ammo before he left, or would he be given some when they arrived? His coat (what if it was cold there?), toiletries, a hairbrush (well, maybe he didn’t need that one all that much), headphones… How long would he be there for? Would he still have schoolwork?  _ Of course you will,  _ he thought to himself.  _ Just hurry up.  _ He spent the rest of the night going over what he should and shouldn’t bring, while Morgana snoozed peacefully on his bed. There wasn’t much he would need. Eventually, Akira finished and went to sleep, but he still had lots of questions.  _ Why was the letter so vague? They could have at least told us how long we would be out for…  _

The hours leading up to 4pm that day were some of the longest Akira had ever experienced. Although it did take a while for him and Futaba to explain to Sojiro what was happening, by the time they were finished, it seemed like no time had passed at all. He made sure the attic was spotless for when he eventually came back to Tokyo, he told Takemi and Ohya and everyone else he knew outside of school that he would be “away for awhile”, and double-triple checked his luggage. Everything was there. Morgana teased him about being a perfectionist, but what else was there for him to do? Now all he had to do was wait.

☆  **☆ ☆**

  
  


The time had come.

Akira had finished packing, had one last coffee and curry, bought some more bullets (he didn’t know if they would be giving him more or not), and said his goodbyes. With Morgana on his shoulder and more luggage than he probably needed, he was off. He met up at the Shibuya walkway with the rest of the Thieves, some holding more bags than others. Futaba had three suitcases and a backpack, Yusuke had several bags that Akira was sure were full of art supplies, meanwhile Ann, Ryuji, Haru, and Makoto all had the same as Akira; a suitcase and a backpack. Morgana jumped down from Akira’s shoulder and sat on one of the suitcases, looking expectantly up at all of them. “Well?” he asked. “Where’s the guy who’s gonna take us to our next location?” Yusuke shook his head and looked at his watch. “I’m not sure, but they should be here any minute.” Just as Morgana was about to reply, he was interrupted by a woman approaching them. She stopped in front of them, staring at Morgana. “What are you doing just standing around?” They turned around to see who was talking, and were taken aback. “Are you kids waiting to be escorted to your… heist?” Their eyes widened. Ryuji stepped forward, his mouth agape, looking both suspicious and shocked at the same time. “How do you know that?! Who are you?!” he demanded. The woman laughed and flipped her long black hair. She was wearing quite a lot of makeup, high-heeled boots, and a very flashy-looking outfit. However, she definitely didn’t look like she was from Shibuya, or anywhere in Japan for that matter, which slightly bothered Akira. “You don’t look like you’re from around here,” he remarked. “How do you speak Japanese so well?” She laughed and shrugged, as if she had been asked that question thousands of times before. “Please,” she said loftily, rolling her eyes. “My name is Misty, and you better not forget it. I’m getting paid to- I mean I’m supposed to be helping you kids get to where you need to go.” 

They gaped at her, letting her words sink in. “ _ You?! _ Helping  _ us?! _ ” Ryuji crossed his arms and frowned. “You don’t look like any Smash character I’ve seen!” Ann elbowed him in the chest. “Don’t be rude!” she hissed, then turned to the flashy-looking woman, who seemed to be ignoring them, typing something on her cell phone. “Hey!” She looked up at Ann, who, along with the rest of the group, was looking at her expectantly. “Sorry for my friend being an asshole there, he’s always like that.” She jabbed her thumb behind her at Ryuji, who glared at her. “Anyways, we are waiting for someone to help us! Can you show us how we… you know…  _ get there?”  _

The woman, or “Misty” as she was called, laughed again and held up her phone. “Oh, it’s easy! Do you remember the Meta-Nav?” They all nodded, skeptical. “I thought it was gone,” Futaba said. Misty ignored her. “Well, if you all check your phones right about now, you’ll find it again,” they looked, and to their shock, it was back, “but it’ll be working a bit differently this time.” Haru raised her eyebrows. “How, exactly?” she asked. Misty shook her head. “I wasn’t given a lot of details, except for your directions and some shit I’m not supposed to tell you until you’re done, well, if you even finish at all.” Ryuji tapped his foot impatiently. “So, can you tell us the details then?” She looked at them, their phones out and ready, and nodded. “Here’s what you need to do.”

“First, I need to tell you what you’ll be up against. Are y’all listening?” They nodded. “Good. This isn’t gonna be the end of the world, but it ain’t gonna be a walk in the park either. You’re gonna need to be focused and keep your guards up. Now, they told me not to spoil it, but I’m gonna do it anyways because y’all usually know at least what kind of place you’ll be going through. It’s a whole town.” Their eyes widened at her for a third time, and Misty smirked, as if she knew exactly how they would react. “That’s right, a whole entire town. You should see your faces right now, you all looked gagged and gooped.” Yusuke looked utterly bewildered at her words, which made Futaba snicker. “There’ll be all the usual stuff you guys normally deal with, but I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” She looked up at them, looking suddenly concerned. “You did bring your weapons, correct?” Everyone nodded. “Good, because y’all are gonna need them. Finally, if you do this all right and are successful, you won’t be returned here, but instead, you’ll be taken to where you’ll be staying. Oh, and when you first arrive, you’ll have your phones and weapons, but you won’t have your bags. Don’t worry,” she added quickly, seeing the worried looks on their faces, “You’ll get them when you’re done. Any questions?”

Makoto raised her hand slightly. “What about our personas?” she asked, her voice slightly timid. “Will we be able to use them again?” The others nodded, murmuring in agreement. Meanwhile, Misty just laughed again. “Of course, silly! It’ll be an important part of how your leader there fights, after all.” She pointed at Akira, who jumped slightly.  _ I’ll be able to see Arsene again?  _ he thought idly, then looked back at Misty, who was looking at them all expectantly. “Any more questions?” They shook their heads. “Alright!” she exclaimed, sounding excited. “Then let’s get going! The keyword you’ll need to put in is “home”. Good luck!” With that, she waved and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. 

The Thieves all looked at each other for a second, still taking in her words. Ann held up her phone, the Meta-Nav open. “Are you guys ready?” she asked. They nodded, all taking a moment to look around at the Shibuya walkway one last time before they left, then each typed the word into their phones. As expected, the world around them suddenly began to change, and so were they, now sporting the outfits they had worn in the Metaverse the previous year, holding their familiar weapons once more. Their luggage and the Shibuya walkway had disappeared, and in their place stood a landscape that none of them could have expected. 

It was a long street, decked with some shops, cramped buildings that could have been apartments, a theater, and some other things that looked incredibly out of place. It looked like parts of a castle had been torn out and placed on the sides of the street, along with huge skyscrapers, what looked like a stadium, several trails that lead to a forest, a temple, a military base… It was all too much to take in at once, and it was all put together incredibly sloppily as well. At each end of the street were two extremely large buildings; one looked like another stadium, the other was a simply gigantic mansion. The sky was black and dotted with stars and a full moon, shining down on the confused Thieves. For many minutes, they did not speak, instead marveling at the insane-looking scene around them. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Ryuji spoke up.

“ _ This  _ is supposed to be a home?! Was that lady nuts?” Morgana started walking up close to the buildings, inspecting them. “Seems like it,” he called back, still looking closely at the strange buildings. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything else we can do besides look around, though.” Akira loaded his gun and looked at the others, who were watching Morgana. “Are you ready?” he asked, causing them to turn around and look at him. Ryuji grinned and raised his spiked baseball bat to rest on his shoulder. “Ready as I’ll ever be, Joker!” he chimed. The others adjusted their weapons and looked at Akira, who twirled his dagger around his finger and smirked. “Alright,” he said, his voice full of determination.

“We’ve got a heart to steal.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- alright so i’m gonna need to explain some of these hc’s for this fic! i based this off of the universe that i like to think of persona 5 taking in (excluding royal and scramble), so here’s the list!  
> \- akira eventually saved up to buy a real pistol  
> \- he has his dagger in both the metaverse and real life (he found it at leblanc after the final bossfight and kept it ever since, the other thieves also found their original melee weapons too)  
> \- since this story takes place in 2019, when he got into smash, i’m hc’ing him, ryuji, ann, and yusuke to be in their final years of high school, because p5 supposedly takes place in 2016 (the calendars line up at least) and in the game they’re in their second year.  
> \- akira moved back to tokyo shortly after the events of p5, because by then, everyone in his hometown knew about his criminal record, and he didn’t really want to stay there for any longer than he needed to. sojiro was more than fine with letting him stay at leblanc, because face it, they’re basically a family.  
> \- haru and makoto are still in tokyo for uni, and they all still hangout every day (because i can’t bare separating them in the slightest), even though they’re not phantom thieves anymore.  
> \- i’ve headcanoned akira’s birthday to be january 11th, 2000 because january 10th 2002 is my birthday and i am extremely unoriginal  
> \- goro akechi is dead and all of the phantom thieves hate his guts because i said so  
> \- this is a different universe from my other stories  
> \- the character “misty” is actually based on my fav twitch streamer (hello misty if ur reading this), and u should totally check her out! twtich.tv/misty_venn  
> \- i agonized FOREVER over what the “palace” would be, but i decided on a town, or “smashville”, because it’s kinda like where our mans waluigi believes he should be. it’s a bit weird, but since he’s existed for almost 20 years, (mario tennis 64 was released on july 21st 2000, where he made his debut) and he would have been jealous of not being invited since melee (2001), i felt like his perception of “smashville” would be pretty warped by now.  
> \- his reasoning is that it’s been nearly 20 years since he was created and despite the fact that he believes he’s a mainline mario character, (even though he’s kinda not because he exists purely for spinoffs) they picked “a random teenager from japan” for their newest smash game instead of him, and that was kinda the final nail in the coffin for the creation of the palace, because “he’s not even a nintendo character”.  
> \- if you read all the way down here, thank you! i really hope you enjoyed it, because i hesitated publishing this at all (it really is a stupid premise). if you liked what you read, please kudos and/or comment, it would mean a lot to me!  
> \- thanks for reading and remember to stay inside!


End file.
